Trump Names Richard Grenell as Acting Head of Intelligence  —  The move places a loyalist atop the intelligence agencies that the president has long battled.  —  WASHINGTON — President Trump on Wednesday named Richard Grenell, a vocal loyalist who quickly antagonized the German establishment …

Live Blog / Las Vegas Democratic debate live updates: Six candidates face off in Nevada  —  Former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg will take the stage for the first time.  —  The ninth Democratic presidential debate kicks off Wednesday night in Las Vegas, with five veteran debaters and one newcomer facing off on the stage.

Trump Offered Assange Pardon if He Covered Up Russian Hack, WikiLeaks Founder's Lawyer Claims  —  Lawyers acting for the WikiLeaks founder said Dana Rohrabacher, a former Republican congressman, had brought the message to London from Trump.  —  LONDON—President Trump offered to pardon Julian Assange …

Democrats won't commit to same-day release of Nevada results  —  LAS VEGAS (AP) — Democrats won't commit to releasing the unofficial results of Saturday's Nevada caucuses on the day of the vote, as they emphasize accuracy over speed in the aftermath of the chaos surrounding the Iowa caucuses.

Republicans plead with Trump to leave Barr alone  —  Senate Republicans are mounting an urgent campaign to save Attorney General William Barr's job — fearful that his dismissal or resignation would deprive President Donald Trump of an effective enforcer of his agenda and hand the Senate a vacancy that's nearly impossible to fill.

Twitter Is Real Life  —  Elites just pretend it's not.  —  Mr. Warzel is an Opinion writer at large.  —  For the better part of a year I've been hearing the same refrain.  Friends, colleagues, peers, respected pollsters have cautioned: Twitter is not real life.

Mike Pompeo and lawmakers spar over ‘deep state’ attacks in private Munich meeting  —  Congressional frustration with the perceived failure by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to defend State Department personnel from political attacks spilled over during a “heated” private meeting last weekend in Munich.

The Hill's review of John Solomon's columns on Ukraine  —  On Nov. 18, 2019, The Hill announced it was reviewing John Solomon's opinion columns on Ukraine after State Department diplomats criticized several of those columns during House impeachment hearings.

Mark Zuckerberg reportedly gets his armpits blow dried before speeches  —  It's not one of Facebook's better perks.  —  Communications employees at the social network routinely blow-dry CEO Mark Zuckerberg's armpits before big speeches, a new book claims.  —  Zuckerberg — who became famous …

Bloomberg Bankrolls a Social-Media Army to Push Message  —  Campaign is hiring workers for $2,500 per month to promote Bloomberg to all their contacts  —  Michael Bloomberg's presidential campaign is hiring hundreds of workers in California to post regularly on their personal social-media accounts …

Judges postpone emergency meeting to discuss Trump/Barr concerns  —  Source: Barr thought about resigning over Trump's interference  —  Washington (CNN)A group of federal judges hastily postponed an emergency meeting that was scheduled to take place Wednesday to discuss concerns …

POLITICO Playbook: The Dem ad campaign aimed at taking down Bernie  —  DRIVING THE DAY  —  G'MORNING, and happy debate day.  —  A NEW CHAPTER in the Democrat-on-Democrat war inside the party will be on full display tonight in Las Vegas when the entire field goes to battle with MIKE BLOOMBERG.

What is the ‘boogaloo?’  How online calls for a violent uprising are hitting the mainstream  —  The movement says it wants a second Civil War targeting liberal political opponents and law enforcement.  —  An anti-government movement that advocates for a violent uprising targeting liberal political opponents …

The Skeptic's Case Against Bloomberg  —  Just a few questions before we anoint Mayor Mike as the moderate savior.  —  A friend texted—actually “signaled,” because that's what all the cool operatives are doing these days—me yesterday.  The exchange went as such:

Wexner Is Expected to Step Down as Victoria's Secret Goes Private  —  Leslie H. Wexner's close ties with Jeffrey Epstein put him and his company under a microscope.  —  Leslie H. Wexner is expected to step down as the chief executive of L Brands, the retail empire he built with his purchase …

Meet the Women Moderators of Tonight's Debate, Hallie Jackson and Vanessa Hauc  —  Hauc and Jackson tell InStyle about their careers (and how Hallie's priorities have changed now that she's 8 months pregnant) and how they're prepping for tonight's big event.  —  PIN  —  FB

Does Anyone Really Believe Free Market Fundamentalists Are ‘Running the Show’?  —  Let's hope not.  —  1 hr  —  Dear Reader,  —  “Conservative intellectuals launch a new group to challenge free-market ‘fundamentalism’ on the right.”  —Washington Post, February 18, 2020

K.T. McFarland Says Mueller Interrogators Put Her Through ‘Hell’ and Left Her ‘Traumatized’  —  Longtime Republican politico K.T. McFarland said in a radio interview Wednesday that Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team pressured her for “20, 30, 40 hours of hell” to either cop a plea or implicate …

In speech, Mulvaney says Republicans are hypocritical on deficits  —  Acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney said Wednesday night that the Republican Party is hypocritical when it comes to deficits, according to audio of an overseas speech obtained by The Washington Post.